Would I take a pill to get rid of my autism?

It’s a question I’ve quietly asked myself. It’s also a question I’ve asked my sons.And our answers were all different. My first answer was yes.

But I realise now I was answering from a place of frustration, from the moments when the challenges felt heavy, exhausting, and unfair.

Then I updated my answer.
Yes…if I could get rid of the difficult parts,the 
overwhelm, the friction. The things that make everyday life harder. But only if I got to keep the gifts.

My ability to connect the dots through stories.
And I love my visual memory and the way I see patterns others miss. All the things that make me me. That part? I wouldn’t want to lose that.

My youngest said no straight away.
“I wouldn’t want to,” he said, “because then I’d be average.” For him, autism has given him skills he’s proud of. He sees it as a source of strength.

My eldest said something different again.
“I wouldn’t be me without my autism,” he said.
“And I definitely wouldn’t be the animator I am today without it.”

Three autistic people with three different answers and one shared realisation is that autism gives us more than it takes away from us.

So we’re keeping it. 

I talk about this in my Three Mirrors of Radical Honesty keynote, and I often use foam as a metaphor. Because in organisations, people from different cultures, neurotypes and life experiences all carry extraordinary insight and skill and it’s the foam that comes directly from difference. But so much of it never rises.
Not because it isn’t there, but because the conditions don’t allow it to.

When environments don’t support honesty, safety and clarity, people keep the best parts of themselves under the surface. And organisations lose access to the very thinking, creativity and insight they say they want.

That’s the real loss.

Not difference.
but unrealised potential.

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If this conversation resonates and you’re thinking about how your organisation communicates, I deliver The Three Mirrors of Radical Honesty as a keynote and shared framework for teams.
It’s designed for organisations that want to improve performance, productivity and profitability by building cultures where people can speak, listen and understand each other properly.